Boundary element method for electroelastic interaction in piezoceramics

A boundary element formulation and its numerical realization for the analysis of electroelastic interaction in piezoelectric materials are presented and corroborated numerically. Based on the linear theory of piezoelasticity, the boundary integral equation is developed employing the mechanical displacement and the electric potential as the primary variables. A two-dimensional fundamental solution for transversely isotopic piezoelectric materials is obtained in closed form and numerically implemented using the spline boundary element method. As a numerical example, stress analysis is performed for an infinite piezoceramic medium (PZT-4) containing a cylindrical defect under several mechanical and electric loading conditions. Numerical results are shown to be in good agreement with an available solution.